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Well, my first proper month with Hastings United is gone, and gone quite well. Surprisingly, my defense has gelled quite well, even with my backup keeper between the sticks (my primary keeper, one of my new signings, was injured for 5-6 weeks in the final preseason game, leaving me with only my backup---an original to the team, to man the goal). 3 wins and a draw see me in second---the final win of the month being a 4-0 thumping of Sutton United. Other than my suddenly solid defence, the other surprise is my 16yo striker (another original come up with the team from the lower divisions). In 4 games, he's nabbed 3 goals and added 3 assists, 2 each in that 4-0 game vs Sutton.

Still early days yet, however, and a long ways to go....but at least there are plenty of positives so far.

I'm 'enjoying' a bit of an inconsistent second season in the BSS with Chippenham, the injuries seem to be piling up at the most annoying times.

However, I'm having a bit of a run in the FA Cup that has just seen us reach the 2nd round after this result over L2 Walsall. We've also scored another 14 goals in our other 3 games so far, all against non-league teams, so it's been a pretty good run!. A home tie against either Woking or Eastbourne Borough awaits us in the next round, both recently promoted from the BSS so could be interesting.

At the beginning of the season i bought anyone that looked good and had a good work rate. I knew my team would have to work hard. Eventually in Jan & Feb we strung a few good results together to pull ourselves up into a strong play off position.

Key Players

Liam Murray - Brilliant defender. I would of picked Tank or Hecker, but they had only been in the team half the season. This guy was rock solid, and held it together. Brilliant partnership with tank near the end.

Dean Bouzanis - Definately my star player. Outstanding goalie, shame about the defence for the majority of the season giving away opportunities to the opposition. Once we had a good tactic and mentality, he really excelled. Kept us in the game plenty of times and saved a couple of penalties along the way.

Matty Wolfenden - Great player, one of the few to survive the cull at the start of the season. Came off the bench a few times and scored many vital goals. Good partnership upfront with the loaned strikers. Lets see how he manages the BSP.

Transfers.
Many of them took place. I need to sharpen my eye for better talent and ensure the players i find are suitable.

i've signed a new 1yr contract till june 2014, which should ensure I can stabilise the team, improve the staff situation and hopefully provide a good backbone to get promotion the following year. Im expecting a tough initial season in the BSP, and leading onto a stronger 2nd season.

I also feel like sacrificing the cups in a way, but its a good financial plus if you stay in them.

Currently gone 9 games unbeaten since my first campaign defeat in the second match of the season. It's mostly because we concede poorly. Two 1v1s, two 2v2s and a goaless draw, four of which came one after the other. Games we could easily have taken if we didnt monumentally mess up at the back. Maybe it's time for a tweak in the defence.

@omgwtf... I love the " I guess I misjudged the situation" comment. I can just imagine how it would be said after all that.

I also feel like sacrificing the cups in a way, but its a good financial plus if you stay in them.

Currently gone 9 games unbeaten since my first campaign defeat in the second match of the season. It's mostly because we concede poorly. Two 1v1s, two 2v2s and a goaless draw, four of which came one after the other. Games we could easily have taken if we didnt monumentally mess up at the back. Maybe it's time for a tweak in the defence.

@omgwtf... I love the " I guess I misjudged the situation" comment. I can just imagine how it would be said after all that.

Sounds like your doing well! have you got a solid backline? and a good tactic/mentality set up?

Yeah, im a bit hesitant to do another team meeting. My heart dropped due to the importance of the matches coming up.

I also feel like sacrificing the cups in a way, but its a good financial plus if you stay in them.

Currently gone 9 games unbeaten since my first campaign defeat in the second match of the season. It's mostly because we concede poorly. Two 1v1s, two 2v2s and a goaless draw, four of which came one after the other. Games we could easily have taken if we didnt monumentally mess up at the back. Maybe it's time for a tweak in the defence.

@omgwtf... I love the " I guess I misjudged the situation" comment. I can just imagine how it would be said after all that.

Thanks, well winning the cup is not possible, but it would be good to get the third round!

How do you use your match preparation? What kind of changes do you make when you take the lead in a game?

right need some help...im bedford and ive played 4 league games: lost 2 drawn 2, i keep conceding goals in the last 10/15 minutes of all my games any suggestions on how to perhaps keep my defence tight for the last minutes of the game because it would really help !

Sounds like your doing well! have you got a solid backline? and a good tactic/mentality set up?

Yeah, im a bit hesitant to do another team meeting. My heart dropped due to the importance of the matches coming up.

To be fair, my scouts rate my backline well but we do rank lowest in terms of tackling and heading in defence out of the league which is clearly, i think, where our problem lies. I am looking into getting a big tall strong centre back though. Asides from that, tactically we play 4-1-3-2. Our anchor man protects us well and going forward we are fairly strong. Like I say, I think once I've got a stronger and taller CB I might be able to cope with the oncoming attacks a little better.

Also, @Hypnotic, I tend not to make any real changes to how we are playing when we take the lead. If we have been playing well to take the lead, why change it when things are working? is what I tend to say as when I change things, it normally ends badly. As for match prep, I tend to lead it towards my defending at the moment, but depending on the oppositions strengthes/weaknesses will normally make me decide where to adjust it.

To be fair, my scouts rate my backline well but we do rank lowest in terms of tackling and heading in defence out of the league which is clearly, i think, where our problem lies. I am looking into getting a big tall strong centre back though. Asides from that, tactically we play 4-1-3-2. Our anchor man protects us well and going forward we are fairly strong. Like I say, I think once I've got a stronger and taller CB I might be able to cope with the oncoming attacks a little better.

Also, @Hypnotic, I tend not to make any real changes to how we are playing when we take the lead. If we have been playing well to take the lead, why change it when things are working? is what I tend to say as when I change things, it normally ends badly. As for match prep, I tend to lead it towards my defending at the moment, but depending on the oppositions strengthes/weaknesses will normally make me decide where to adjust it.

So in your match preparations, do have 3 variations of the same formation, or do you have 3 different formations? If 3 variatons of same formation, then how do they vary exactly?

I do often change it if we take the lead, depending on the situation, after all, a goal is a game changer. but i can see how it might backfire, i guess it depends what your changing.

In Bedford, you need a grand new team. Nobody on the starting-team can do anything. Im Bedford too, and tried to keep the most of the team i had fro the beginning. I only survived with 4 point on 19th place, and recieved 78 goals. So my device is to get a new keeper, and almost a new defence, only a few of the from the start-team is usefull, including Blackwood, who is fine. The midfield is average, but nothing special, and the forwards is just bad, and are waisting, a lot of 100% chances. So let your agent find some substitutes, for almost every position.

In Bedford, you need a grand new team. Nobody on the starting-team can do anything. Im Bedford too, and tried to keep the most of the team i had fro the beginning. I only survived with 4 point on 19th place, and recieved 78 goals. So my device is to get a new keeper, and almost a new defence, only a few of the from the start-team is usefull, including Blackwood, who is fine. The midfield is average, but nothing special, and the forwards is just bad, and are waisting, a lot of 100% chances. So let your agent find some substitutes, for almost every position.

-jskovc

Ok thanks alot i didnt really sign anyone soo will look into it in january i'm now 8 games in and only 5 points it's worrying how bad the team is

Well it's been a bit of an up and down start to my career, although we've been putting together a few nice little runs of late which has left us sitting nicely in 5th place in the table. We've shipped a few goals but at the other end we have been managing to stick the ball in the onion bag pretty regularly, which - judging by some of the struggles people are having in here in that department - is no mean feat!

My top scorer is actually a player who was already at the club when I took over - Paul Kenny. His haul of 17 goals in 25 games is impressive enough, but considering he has played the majority of his matches out on the right wing, that is just damn impressive!

Impressive performances have also come from young winger Liam Wilkinson and one of my most recent acquisitions Archie Love. The Loverman has got off to a flying start for me, with 4 goals in his first 5 games - including possibly the greatest hattrick of all time...

Finally on the player front, my scouts really hit the jackpot when scouting the Irish lower leagues. One amateur side in particular, Gweedore United, had some tasty youngsters stashed away in their u19 ranks - I managed to nab two of them before my wage budget was maxed out .
Of the five Irishmen I managed to pick up, Adam O'Neill is probably the most impressive, whilst 16-year old man (boy?) mountain Michael O'Sullivan is one for the future. I really hope he grows some more!

Here's my Transfers page - just a few players in haha. Notice also I signed a few players early and then sold/released them to free up some wages for better players. The bank aren't going to like me, but it's paying off on the pitch!

I'm hoping I can stick around the top half of the table ready for an all out assault on the playoffs next season!

So in your match preparations, do have 3 variations of the same formation, or do you have 3 different formations? If 3 variatons of same formation, then how do they vary exactly?

I have different formations - ones that are easily changable mid-way through a game. So 4-1-3-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-4-1-1. So essentially they don't differ much because I don't like to change much unless for example I feel we need to be more aggressive and attacking, in which I switch to my second formation. I porbably don't utilise the function to its full potential yet.

Started with a decent 2-2 draw at home to one of the favourites for promotion, Welling United, but could have been so much better, as we were 2-0 up and half time, and the victory was snatched away in injury time, as my dodgy keeper made a hash of a cross come shot, and managed to claw it into his own net.

This was followed by another 3 draws, after which I grabbed my opening victory away to Farnborough.

My first defeat followed straight after though, as I managed to lose 2-1 at home to arch rivals Eastbourne Borough.

Sitting in around 16th spot and injuries are beginning to pile up.

Could be a long season.

Will post a further update, with screenshots, when I get to the new year.

The ultimate up-and-down season, this. At first, it looked like we were in for another relegation scrap when we lost the first four game in a row, then five wins in six put us back on track. An 11-game unbeaten run in mid-season had me one point off the playoffs, and I was getting quite excited. Then disaster struck. My new signing Mukendi, of whom more below, got injured. In the same game, his strike partner, Fitchett (ditto), also got injured. It was to be the end of both their seasons. From that game, we lost 5 of the last 8, winning just one. We ended up mid-table.

It was disappointing. Financially, though, things improved. My wage bill was tiny at the start of the season as I released too many players. I panic-bought at the start of the season (and with some success), so we didnt quite get back into the black, but it was progress nonetheless. I plan to do the same next season, and keep only the best of this year. All-in-all, it was certainly a good year, although it promised so much more. If Mukendi hadnt got injured, who knows what might have happened? Even automatic promotion looked possible.

In the FA Cup, I had a good run to the first round, beating Lincoln Utd, Frickley and Alfreton after a replay, but Alfreton were my conquerors in the 2nd round of the FA Trophy after victories against Goole and Histon (again after a replay).

Surprisingly, I was awarded with the Manager of the Season award. Things are looking up for next season, particularly with the summer arrival of Adorjan on a free transfer.

The end of season report described us as "overachievers". Also, I'm not in the bottom three of the league in terms of reputation any more either.

Key Players

Vinny Mukendi- His stats don't tell the full story. He had a bit of a slump later in the season but started like a house on fire. Next season he should be good...Dan Fitchett*- Looks a bit average, but chipped in with a lot of goals.Jamie Tank- Another good season, cut short a bit by injury.Jamie McCormack- Anyone else ever had a CB pairing with the same first name? McCormack was even better, with masses of key tackles and saved our bacon in many games.Matthias Fanimo- A bit up and down but was our best player for much of the season. When he played well, we won.Christian Nanetti- Worked harder than anyone else all season and deserves mention. At 21, he can only improve.

(*= fans' player of the year)

Again, most of the rest (although not quite as many as last year) will probably be released over the summer in a major clearout to make space for a raid on released EPL players.

I've been at a football match tonight, I'm pretty tired. I have a (meaningless) lecture at 10:20 tomorrow. Do I have a blast on FM now? Or be good and go to bed... I'm halfway through Season 1, feel like I should crack on.

To be 4-1 in 38 mins I was shocked as we were doing quite well didn't change anything and left it late getting the winner. Think I tighted things up in pre-season with slight tactic change and now playing a ball winner in mid and it was just one of them game or we are still far too open can't decide atm so will see after a few more games but to allow them so many CCCs is not acceptable.

I've been at a football match tonight, I'm pretty tired. I have a (meaningless) lecture at 10:20 tomorrow. Do I have a blast on FM now? Or be good and go to bed... I'm halfway through Season 1, feel like I should crack on.

If tired I would go to bed.

I've got to get up at 8 tommorow but decide to jump on but got to know when to stop as I usually get addicted and it one more then another one. I'm not tired which is my only problem as no point sleeping just for a few hours and don't know if I could survive an all nighter.

I've been at a football match tonight, I'm pretty tired. I have a (meaningless) lecture at 10:20 tomorrow. Do I have a blast on FM now? Or be good and go to bed... I'm halfway through Season 1, feel like I should crack on.

Pretty much the same. I go through all of the European International teams (mainly U21's/U19's) for players willing to discuss a contract, and offer them a trial. Signed 2 fantastic Danish newgens this way. Although one did his cruciate ligaments in after 4 games.

Personally, I scout any players reccomended to me by my staff, and trawl the list of players scouted by my scouts to find anyone suitable.

Those of interest I generally give a trial to and try them out in friendlies or reserve fixtures, unless I'm really desperate for cover, and then I may be persuaded to take a punt w/o trialing.

Anyone else doing it like this, or are others going about it in a different way?

I check released players from Prem/Championship sides(Go through sides/add last club tab to player search) and scout them my staff recommendations has been pretty useless tbh and scouts only seem to find 15/16 BSS/BSN players not good enough and no real potential. The uninterested filter blocks many decent players who would join me. Also check International teams and their youth sides and trial as can't scout. Found a few decent ones but no luck with work permits.

I have different formations - ones that are easily changable mid-way through a game. So 4-1-3-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-4-1-1. So essentially they don't differ much because I don't like to change much unless for example I feel we need to be more aggressive and attacking, in which I switch to my second formation. I porbably don't utilise the function to its full potential yet.

Hi, Well I don't think there is just one right way to do it, but in my experience in 2011, I found that using three different formations, didnt work for me, i ended up going with the same formation, but with different settings, so one was defensive, one was more attacking and the other was counter attack.

Personally, I scout any players reccomended to me by my staff, and trawl the list of players scouted by my scouts to find anyone suitable.

Those of interest I generally give a trial to and try them out in friendlies or reserve fixtures, unless I'm really desperate for cover, and then I may be persuaded to take a punt w/o trialing.

Anyone else doing it like this, or are others going about it in a different way?

That's what I usually do. Sometimes the coaches recommend good players in their advice, like the keeper and DC I recently signed.
One of my scouts have highlighted a few Irish youngsters with potential. I've only signed one of them, a right winger, and after a single reserve match he got iinto my starting 11. He took a great corner on his debut and eclipsed that with a goal and 2 more assists in his second match (one assist was from a corner and the other from a loose ball that came back to him from his corner)

In Bedford, you need a grand new team. Nobody on the starting-team can do anything. Im Bedford too, and tried to keep the most of the team i had fro the beginning. I only survived with 4 point on 19th place, and recieved 78 goals. So my device is to get a new keeper, and almost a new defence, only a few of the from the start-team is usefull, including Blackwood, who is fine. The midfield is average, but nothing special, and the forwards is just bad, and are waisting, a lot of 100% chances. So let your agent find some substitutes, for almost every position.

-jskovc

Originally Posted by sam97

Ok thanks alot i didnt really sign anyone soo will look into it in january i'm now 8 games in and only 5 points it's worrying how bad the team is

yeah, i've found Bedford's original team suck balls.

I'm really struggling to score goals, but I have the 3rd best defence in the league.

This season my main aim was to secure a mid table spot and maybe push for the play offs. I wanted to be ambitious in my thinking, and prehaps was more likely to find myself near the bottom of the table. After the start of the season my fears were confirmed. I had a team with little to no skill and results were hard to come by.
Surprisingly my players decided that they wanted to be ambitious. They pulled some amazing results out of the bag, and kept my heart racing throughout the season.
Some surprised me when called into the first team, and some claimed spots that were originally set out for others. At the end of the scheduled games we were in the playoff spots, 2nd position and had just come to the end of a mammoth unbeaten streak when playing away at eventually league winners AFC Telford.

The team coped well with change. With 36 players IN during the course of the season and 40 players OUT.

The playoff semi final was a breathtaking affair. We went 2-0 down in the first leg away from home, and things were not looking so great. A few harsh words to my players seemed to jolt their memories of the unbeaten run they so enjoyed during the latter half of the season. Omar Koroma one of the stars of the season popped up and scored a goal that will live long in the fans memory. A vital away goal. The match ended. 2-1Playoff Semi Leg 1

Leg 2 came about and we were full of optimism, after gaining the vital away goal we knew that a 1-0 win would take us to the playoff final, and it was looking more and more likely that we would face Solihull Moors (Our preferred choice) as they had already stuffed Nuneaton 4 - 0 at home.
A tough decision had to be made, should i go with Corbin Ong, my best rated central defender, or Jamie Tank who had been a rock for most of the season when corbin had been injured. I chose to swith it up from the first leg with Tank coming in.
On the 42nd minute mark my decision had me jumping up and down, Tank had rose like a salmon and put us in front. All we had to do was hold on to this 1-0 lead and we would be in the BSP.
Half time came and went and we looked comfortably in the lead, and 5 minutes after the restart Jason Wellings (A revelation after being left on the bench most of the season) scores a goal to put us 2-0 ahead. However 1 goal from Barrow would still take us to extra time.
Luckily however hard they pressed my defence and stunning Goalkeeper Jason North were more than a match for them and kept their clean sheet.Playoff Semi Leg 2

Final

Our team was geared up for the final, we were set to name an unchanged side, and for once this season had no injuries and most of our players were pretty fit.
We started the match well and were the ones putting the pressure on Solihull, and once again that man Omar Koroma popped up to score the opening goal just 19 minutes in, and already our fans were dreaming of the BSP.
The dreams were cut short 7 minutes later when an equaliser from Danny Glover (Not the actor) pegged us back.
However Omar Koroma was just starting his day, goals on the 32nd and 39th (penalty) sealed a first half hat trick, and just to seal the game up before half time Jason Wellings got another vital goal.
We went in 4-1 at half time. I praised the players and asked them to keep it up.
Second half may have been a dissapointment for the fans, but we sat back and rode out the game.
Final score 4-1

WE WERE PROMOTED

Key Players

Omar Koroma - This guy was a revelation. Signed him up and i thought he would be a decent player, but he ended up being the catalyst for a huge promotion push. His 20 goals in 28 appearances is nothing short of spectacular, and added to that his 6 assists and 6 MOM awards were an added bonus. Signed him for an extra year just before the playoffs, and i guess he showed again why he deserved the extension. One that could be with me for a few years.

Jamar Loza - When he first came he had 8 goals in 12 games, however he then went 13 hours without a goal and some pretty bad performances saw others come into the team instead of him. He did however have some good form towards the end of the season and is still young, the fact he got 8 assists shows that there is more to his game than just goals.

Jason Wellings - Only got a game due to injuries to my first choice wingers of the time. But once he was in the team he was never back out. 26 games 8 goals, 6 assists and 3 MOM awards will see him earn a contract, if he ever decides he wants to move up to a part time contract that is.

Jamie Tank - Solid all year round, with few injuries, 38 games, 5 goals, 2 assists show that this defender is not only solid at the back but can be a threat at the front. Still young with time to improve and i hope he can stay in the squad for the next year or two at least. Will always remember the decision to play him above Corbin Ong and him scorign the vital Header in the playoff semi final leg 2.

La'Vere Corbin-Ong - The player with the most complicated name and the best potential and ability out of any Central defender i have seen/scouted this year. Still young which may be the cause of some many incosistent performances, went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Hopefully can sure it up next season if he gets to partner Tank.

Jeffery Imudia - Player who scored my personal goal of the season, and a solid RB, came in when Walmsley and Burgess got injured and made himself a home at RB. Brilliant from October til the end of the season, and a player i have signed for next season.

Jonathan North - Last but not least the Goalkeeper who is wanted by league 2 clubs and has a huge potential. We will have to wait and see if he sticks around, but i have him for at least another year. Has not always performed the best but i know he has ability and needs to be more consistent if we are going to make a successful step up.

Other News & Awards

Board have announce they are building a new £2.9million stadium. 4852 capacity, only 1352 above our current. Wish i could tell them NO. They have taken out a loan of £975k to fund it, along with grants and selling current stadium.

1. Survival - Stay in the BSP with a mid - bottom half finish.
2. Sign up some players i want to keep for a few years. With only about 8-9 that i WANT to keep for a few years, my future with this squad does not look too great. So i need to sign some more players who are good for now and have future potential.
3. Money - Don't lose as much money. Maybe now a run in the Fa cup - although i think the lack of success in the cups was a bonus in my eventual promotion this year.

Another almost season, we seem to have a dip in form halfway through the season, I'm thinking about doing afull clearout of the squad and start it over again with a cheaper, younger squad with a few experienced players. We got knocked out the F.A Cup early again, I'm sure this game doesn't like me!

Well, that was surprising, I didn’t know what to expect of the new game engine, I had just played a quarter of a season in the Premier League before we started this adventure, but the tactic devised there work as a charm in the BSS with a few modifications.

While I hoped to be able to reach a playoff spot, we managed to win the league quite comfortably in the end. The success did not stop there, after a massive letdown by the team early in the FA Cup qualifiers against a team we should have won against easily, we won the FA Trophy on penalties after an evenly matched 1-1 draw against Stockport.

I've been in the boards face all season trying to convince them that we should increase the scouting range, get better facilities, buy a new stadium etc. All I've heard so far is no...They decided to do a minor 750 Seat Terrace Conversion on the stadium without my knowledge, reducing the total capacity by 24 seats. Why not buy a new one instead… Oh well...

Key players:

We managed to bring in some quality players before the season started, a few of them will definitely be staying for a few seasons if we are able to keep them.

Finances:
We've picked up quite a few players on free transfer, but thanks to constant haggling with agents over salaries, we are still well under the wage budget limit. Still the numbers were slightly in red before the FAT final. We have now + £150k in balance.

I had enough spare wage budget to turn into Bromley's £7k asking price. It's annoying that I can't put him on a full time strength/aerobic training schedule as he looks like he could be very good with better physicals.

Glennuk - Congrats on promotion. Omar Koroma is a great player and La'Vere Corbin-Ong looks even better for you. Mine is quicker but not as good as defending and has less caps than yours, did he get called up at stupid times and miss key games?

Finances - Still in the red which is disapointing. Just not consistantly getting bums in seats at league games.

This season was going to be tough as we were lacking the funds to develop the squad and needed some holes fixed just to be able to survive. Survive is what we barely did, with it coming down to a lucky win against Woking in the last game to secure our safety. Tamworth beat Lincoln in an upset to challange, but weren't good enough to get out of the drop zone.

Fantastic result and a really good run to get there. We will try hard to defend our title next season for sure.

Were given Preston North End who unfortunatly were on fire at the time.

Squad - Doing well but we lack the spark as well as the depth to truly mount a decent challenge in this league

Key Player Profiles

Paul Hecker - Still improving but the rest downtimes are killing me at the end of the season. He was injured for quite a big part of the season as well which didn't help his performances

Alberto Seidi - Has now turned into striker number 1 at the club and continues to dominate. Has made the step up to the BSP well.

Player of the Season

Kameron Lewis-Campbell - A last minute pickup in the offseason, LC led the way in Hecker's many absences throughout the season. Fantastic player.

Up and Comers

Marcus Stephens - Progress has stalled and will be overage by next season. Time to use him as a backup only.

Transfers - Mulligan leaving was a blow, but his replacement Lewis-Campbell was a great signing, as were Jeffries and Unsworth.

Glennuk - Congrats on promotion. Omar Koroma is a great player and La'Vere Corbin-Ong looks even better for you. Mine is quicker but not as good as defending and has less caps than yours, did he get called up at stupid times and miss key games?

Gman - Congrats on promotion and F.A Trophy Win

Yep missed some key games, and was also injury prone, so i had him Tank, and Ashley Thompson as 3 CBs that i kept interchanging. Corbin Ong still rated as my best after buying a few after promotion but he just doesn't seem consistent enough. Will probabaly be back up to start the season and see if he can get in....as for Koroma....i think i am in love haha

I've managed to win my first two home games but lost all three away games so far.

Was robbed by the ref in my last game. Sent my DR off for a dodgy second yellow and then allowed their winner despite being miles offside! Need to start picking up away wins if we want to do anything this season

Table - Overall I am very pleased with our first season in the BSP, expected to get destroyed by the other teams, I personally thought that finished 19th would have been an achievement, but no, some shrewd tactics and signings, and how we didn't get the over-achiever award I will never know.

Graph - Not once did we fall into the relegation spots, in fact, on game 38 we occupied 4th, and I actually thought that we had a chance at finishing in the play-offs, but alas, injuries to my first choice LB, MC, and ST meant we suffered and had to settle for 7th.

Squad - The Boys, some important players there, especially Graeme Brackstone, free transfer from Middlesbrough, solid to say the least; Kenny Windows, came through our youth system a few years back, not the fastest, but puts in a lot of work and a valid member of the squad; James Hughes may not be the fastest, but boy, this kid can finish, and partnered with Brodie over the first half of the season, they proved to be deadly; Robbie Sullivan came in during January, and oh my god, this guy has pace and can score, if he had any composure he may have scored more, signing of the season for me.

League Record: Pos 13th, W 14, D 16, L 12, F 60, A 63, Pts 58FA Cup: 2nd Round Qual, 1-1, 0-0p vs Bishop's StortfordFA Trophy: Quarter Finals, 0-3 vs Newport CountyFirst XI: (4-5-1) Peace; Lyskov, Crowther, McGarry, Taylor; Minihan, Marshall, Benjamin, Genchev, Mannion; Wake. Top Scorer: Ethan Mannion 15Top Assister: Ethan Mannion 13Best Rating: Brian Wake 7.26Average Attendance: 188Fans Player Of The Year: Ethan MannionMy Player Of The Year: Ethan MannionNotable Results: 0-5 vs Droylsdon, 4-0 vs Eastleigh, 4-1 vs WorkingtonTransfers In: 16 players were brought in to shore up the squad, all on frees. Notable players include Ethan Mannion, a superb Irish striker/winger, who was an ever present, Sam Minihan and Sergio Menisio, both solid central midfielders, and striking hotshot Brian Wake, who at 30 became the oldest player at the club by some way. (I'm not a fan of veterans at this level really). Had Wake been bought in the summer rather than January, he would certainly have finished as top scorer for the club, and would have been my player of the year too.Best Buy: Brian WakeWorst Buy: Brought in a Welsh forward called Lewis Powell from Chippenham who was nowhere near as good as Mannion or Wake, so never really played. He moaned about this ALL the time.Transfers Out: 15 players moved on frees or were released, all of them considered dead weights from when I joined the club.Best Sale: Can't really answer this

Round-Up: No sooner had the season begun, notorious destroyed-of-clubs Peter Ridsdale (responsible for financial meltdowns at Leeds United, Cardiff and most recently Plymouth) decided he wanted to ruin Banbury. Thankfully, no agreement could be made. We had another offer some months later from a former West Ham director, but that too fell through. Finally, Ryan Yeung, Birmingham football director and son of owner Carson, at the age of just 19 (in-game, he's really 18!) took over the club. I was told I'd be losing my job, but thanks to support from the fans and players, he decided to let me keep it.

As far as the season itself went, things weren't too bad. We started out with no wins in our first 11 games (8 were draws!) but overcame this horribly slow start to play some decent football as the campaign ticked over. We ended 13th, and had the 42 matches been played again on the end of that, would have continued to push up and finish even higher. Improvement like this was what I was hoping to see, and gives me faith in our abilities to really do something next season. FA Cup performance was dire, going out on penalties after a replay at the very first hurdle, but the FA Trophy was better. We were the only non-BSP club to make the quarter finals, where we lost 3-0 to a far better Newport County. (Crewe, relegated from League Two, beat them 5-1 in the final).

Another almost season, we seem to have a dip in form halfway through the season, I'm thinking about doing afull clearout of the squad and start it over again with a cheaper, younger squad with a few experienced players. We got knocked out the F.A Cup early again, I'm sure this game doesn't like me!

Our Best Player this season was our centre who ended as our top scorer in the league, mainly scoring by leaving his marker for dead and getting near post headers from corners and free kicks and the occassional goal following up our quick counter attack.

Things to do next season:

1) Avoid relegation
2) Improve Squad
3) Improve Finances by having a good cup run or two

After being named over-achievers of the season with a 9th place finish, the media have certainly jumped on board, predicting me to finish 21st. So have promptly come out and won my first two, at 5th predicted Dartford and at home to 8th predicted Havant & Waterlooville.

The Dartford win was especially sweet as it featured a hat-trick from my young forward Jimmy Floyd Harris-baink. He came in around Feb last season and struggled, so this will hopefully kick-start a prolific season from the kid.

A productive off-season too - transfers. Did my usual trick of going through all the released youth at Premiership and Championship clubs, and was happy they are a lot harder to sign for lower clubs on this version. A lot of guys left, including Alex Rhodes, but to be honest every player I brought in will likely play a part in the first team, whereas most of the guys who left won't be missed. Will still probably go through my shortlist again in Oct/Nov as a lot of those released youth have yet to find clubs.

Won't get a chance to play for three days now due to work and other commitments, but will then have a nice three day stretch, so nice to leave the game on a couple of early wins.

Buy too much player, but finally found some really good gem for my team.

Loris Karius - Good GK, saved the team when i was still trying to re-build the defence.Fuska - Only found him after new year, but his stats and performance really deserve some praise. Tomas O'Sullivan - Star in midfield, top dribble & assist. Richie Barroilhet - Top scorer in team.

Not doing good in terms of finances, need to improve on this next season.

Can I congratule tapwater on his/her exemplary post? The number in the title helps me so much, and makes my job a lot easier. Thanks tapwater, and many congratulations on being the 10th promoted side in the challenge this year!